McDonald’s Now Serves Big Macs On China Plates

McDonald’s, or Macca’s as it is affectionately called, is big in Australia. And lately, the international fast food restaurant has garnered much attention for its innovativepromotions in the outback. The most recent is isolated to one restaurant, located in Warilla (a suburb of Sydney), where the restaurant has begun to serve evening meals on plates, with cutlery and table service to boot. It’s fast fine dining.

This is particularly notable because the promotion was not started by the marketing department in the home office but by the franchise owners, Glenn and Katia Dwarte. The idea spurned out of Mr. Dwarte’s parents and mother-in-law’s weekly visits to the restaurant. He would serve his family on crockery and then find other customers asking where they could get the same. When McDonald’s Australian Chief Executive Catriona Noble came to check on the franchise, the Dwartes pitched the idea to her, serving her a meal as if she were at a regular dine-in restaurant. It was then that Noble took the idea to the global HQ in Chicago, who have now approved a five week trial of the fine dining service.

Mr. Dwarte says the response has been positive:

Most were quite excited. We actually had a group of eight people who asked me to take a photograph of them so they could put it on Facebook. We are also providing customer surveys so we can gauge the feedback.

From 5pm-8pm for the next month, people who order certain meals such as a Big Mac or a Deluxe meal will have the choice of getting their food delivered to their table, with nary a brown bag or paper cup in sight. Fancy that.